Many fans were surprised when WWE released Bray Wyatt as he had been booked as a top star who was earning big money.
Over time, there have been multiple reports regarding why he was let go including the company having issues with his weight and him being difficult to work with. When Wyatt reacted to a report that he was hard to work with and deserved to be let go, the former WWE star referenced WWE executives John Laurinaitis and Bruce Prichard being the sources.
Wyatt also reportedly had issues with WWE management over his “burned Fiend” suit that was created for him once he was set on fire by Randy Orton.
While speaking on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed Edge no longer being part of The Judgment Day group because WWE wants to make it supernatural and he wasn’t on board with it. This led to a conversation about the last time a supernatural gimmick was over in a big way.
Meltzer named Wyatt and then brought up the circumstances for Wyatt’s release as noted that there were specific reasons to let him go that weren’t about him being over or his Fiend character.
“You can make the argument for Bray Wyatt becoming a big star and he was absolutely a huge merchandise seller. You can also make the argument that he was not a success and I know people there who have made the argument that, ‘Oh, he’s one of the most over guys, he sold a lot of merchandise.’ He was fired for reasons having nothing to do with being over or not over and he was not fired having to do with his gimmick. He was fired having to do with things that I probably shouldn’t talk about so I’m not going to start a can of worms. It’s got nothing to do with that. He also had health issues as far as being kept out of action and everything like that.”
Meltzer noted WWE booked Wyatt against opponents who would get destroyed by him and had to rebuild.
“There was the argument that he was more harm than good, other than the fact that he sold a lot of merchandise. They obviously felt pretty highly of him considering they signed him to a contract for almost $4 million a year…I think he was third-highest paid in the company.”
After Wyatt teased being ready to return to wrestling last month, he also changed his Twitter username to Wyatt 6. There had been speculation this past weekend that he could return at Hell in a Cell, which led to an increase in ticket sales on the secondary market.
That clearly didn’t happen as Wyatt was booked for an autograph signing on Sunday afternoon for Legends of the Ring. He’s also booked again in Woodbridge, NJ this coming Saturday.
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